“He [Sean Hannity] says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”
Eric Cortellessa: Do you see why so many Americans see language like that, you know, dictator for a day, suspending the Constitution—Donald Trump: I think a lot of people like it.
Now, as you can see if you follow the links, the former president plays these statements off as "sarcastic" or "said as a joke". On the other hand...
Like a madman who hurls flaming spears and shoots deadly arrows,
So is anyone who deceives a neighbor
and then says, “But I was only joking with you.”
(Proverbs 26:18-19 VOICE)
The Former President: "Sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself."
The quotes is from C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia (specifically, from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and actually leads to one of the most profound scenes in the book. (I won't spoil it for you - go read the book for yourself!)
But it's the first thing that came to mind when thinking about the "to-do" list that Mr. Trump has hinted at during his campaign - dragonish thoughts lead to dragon behavior.
“Now that the ‘seal’ is broken, in addition to closing the border & removing all of the ‘criminal’ elements that have illegally invaded our country, making America energy independent & even dominant again, & immediately ending the war between Russia & Ukraine, I will appoint a real special ‘prosecutor’ to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family, & all others involved with the destruction of our elections, borders, & country itself!"
“The unAmerican Weaponization of our Law Enforcement has reached levels of Illegality never thought possible before... INDICT THE UNSELECT J6 COMMITTEE FOR ILLEGALLY DELETING AND DESTROYING ALL OF THEIR ‘FINDINGS!'”
"It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds."
"No, I don't think they would impeach me if I fired Jack Smith."
"Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged and he should be thrown out of the country."
"They are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC NEWS, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its “Country Threatening Treason.” Their endless coverage of the now fully debunked SCAM known as Russia, Russia, Russia, and much else, is one big Campaign Contribution to the Radical Left Democrat Party. I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events. Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country!"
"A giant Fake News Scam by CBS & 60 Minutes. Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better. A FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal. TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. Election Interference. She is a Moron, and the Fake News Media wants to hide that fact. An UNPRECEDENTED SCANDAL!!!"
“We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the—and it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
“A massive, crooked, vicious radical left machine that runs the Democratic Party. They’re just vessels. And when I say the ‘enemy from within,’ the other side goes crazy. Becomes a soundb—‘Ohh, how can he say?’ No, they’ve done very bad things to this country. They are indeed the enemy from within.”
The Former President: Authoritarian Fanboy
If Tad Callister is correct and "we become like those things we habitually love and admire", then it's a good idea to take a look at the kinds of leaders that the former president praises.
Kim Jong Un (North Korea)
REPORTER: Mr. President, what surprised you the most about Kim Jong Un?
TRUMP: A great personality and very smart. Good combination. He’s a worthy negotiator, negotiating on behalf of his people. A very worthy, a very smart negotiator. We had a terrific day. We learnt a lot about each other and about our countries, so.
REPORTER: What did you learn about him?
TRUMP: I learned that he’s a very talented man. I also learned that he loves his country very much.
"I was really being tough - and so was he. And we would go back and forth. And then we fell in love, okay? No, really - he wrote me beautiful letters, and they're great letters."
“He’s the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
"I think he misses me, if you want to know the truth."
Other Republicans have a clearer view of the North Korean dictator.
“Kim Jong Un is a thug and a tyrant, and he has tested ballistic missiles against our allies. He’s threatened us. There’s nothing to congratulate him about. I mean, he’s been terrible to his people. He’s been terrible to America, and we need to stop being nice to countries that hate America.” (Nikki Haley)
“Whether it's my former running mate or anyone else, nobody should be praising the dictator in North Korea or praising the leader in Russia, who has launched an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine. This is a time when we ought to make it clear to the world that we stand for freedom and we stand with those who stand for freedom.” (Mike Pence)
"Kim Jong-Un, the tyrant dictator in North Korea should not be praised by Donald Trump for a leadership role in the World Health Organization. We sanction leaders who oppress their people. We do not elevate them on the world stage.” (Asa Hutchinson)
As of this past week, North Korea is sending approximately 10,000 troops to Russia to assist in the invasion of Ukraine. And, evidently, Kim Jong Un is missing the former president.
Xi Jinping (China)
“Think of President Xi: central casting, a brilliant guy. You know, when I say he’s brilliant, everyone says, ‘Oh that’s terrible.' Well, he runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. Smart, brilliant, everything perfect. There’s nobody in Hollywood like this guy.”
"Our relationship with China has now probably never, ever been better...He's for China, I'm for the U.S., but other than that, we love each other."
"You have a lot of misinformation spread about China, and you have a lot of misinformation spread about a lot of different places. I think I'm going to get along great with China. President Xi of China and I are very good friends, we met right here, right there. [referring to where reporters are sitting] We had a beautiful sofa there. As opposed to what we have right now. Right now we have you."
“He’s now president for life. President for life. No, he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot some day.”
TRUMP: “They hate when I say, you know, when the press — when I called President Xi, [the press] said, ‘Well, he called President Xi brilliant.’ Well, he’s a brilliant guy. He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. I mean, he’s a brilliant guy, whether you like it or not. And they go crazy.”
JOE ROGAN: “Right, it doesn’t mean he’s not evil, or it doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous."
TRUMP: “Yeah, of course not. But, actually, we have evil people in our country.”
Reminder: the former president was very positive about how well President Xi was dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak... until he wasn't.
Vladimir Putin (Russia)
“The smartest one gets to the top. That didn’t work so well recently in our country. But they ask me, ‘Is Putin smart?’ Yes, Putin was smart. And I actually thought he was going to be negotiating. I said, ‘That’s a hell of a way to negotiate, put 200,000 soldiers on the border.’”
BUCK: Mr. President, in the last 24 hours we know Russia has said that they are recognizing two breakaway regions of Ukraine, and now this White House is stating that this is an “invasion.” That’s a strong word. What went wrong here? What has the current occupant of the Oval Office done that he could have done differently?
TRUMP: "Well, what went wrong was a rigged election and what went wrong is a candidate that shouldn’t be there and a man that has no concept of what he’s doing. I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, “This is genius.” Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful. So, Putin is now saying, “It’s independent,” a large section of Ukraine. I said, “How smart is that?” And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force… We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy… I know him very well. Very, very well."
(Donald Trump on Clay & Buck radio interview, February 2022)
"Have they found him guilty? I don't think they've found him guilty. If he did it, fine. But I don’t know that he did it. You know, people are saying they think it was him, it might have been him, it could have been him. But Maria, in all fairness to Putin—I don’t know. You know, and I’m not saying this because he says, ‘Trump is brilliant and leading everybody’ —the fact is that, you know, he hasn’t been convicted of anything.”
(Donald Trump in interview about murder of Alexander Litvinenko on Fox Business, January 2016)
For a more extensive series of clips, you can watch this video collection from CNN in 2020. (The text version is linked here.)
Two Final Words
"He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government. Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators - he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure."
Show me a righteous ruler and I will show you a happy people. Show me a wicked ruler and I will show you a miserable people.
(Proverbs 29:2 GNT)
Important reminder: I am not attempting to defend the Biden administration or the Harris candidacy. I am simply pointing out that Donald Trump's obsession with dictators does not deserve and will not receive my support.
The first post in this series focuses on tariff policy - at this point, Mr. Trump's belief that tariffs are a "magic wand" that can cure all sorts of problems - child care, grocery prices, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., etc. They're not.
The seventh post in this series focuses on the opposition of many of his former staff to his re-election as well as his possible choices for government positions of unqualified (at best) individuals. (This post was written prior to the release of more extensive reporting of John Kelly's rejection of Mr. Trump.)
The eighth post in this series focuses on the former president's desire for harsh laws and law enforcement against others but extreme leniency for himself.
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